Introduction
“Likewise, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, even if some disobey the Christian message, they may be won over without a message by the way their wives live when they observe your pure, reverent lives.” 1 Peter 3:1-2
Up until now, Peter has been reminding us about the importance of relationships.
In 1 Peter 1:14-16, he reminded us in regards to our relationship with God that we are to be holy as He is holy.
In 1 Peter 2:11-12, he reminded us in regards to our relationship with the world that we are to live honourably whilst we do good works.
In 1 Peter 2:13-17, he reminded us in regards to our relationship with our governments that we are to submit to them and their authority.
In 1 Peter 2:18-25, he reminded us in regards to our relationship with others around us that as servants we are to do good and suffer patiently even though we get treated badly by others.
And here, he reminds us of our responsibilities in another relationship. He says wives submit yourselves to their husbands.
Because he uses the word ‘likewise’ he’s obviously referring back to the previous chapter. And so what he’s saying is, all those principles he taught us previously apply to the wife and husband relationship.
In other words, if a wife suffers wrong from her husband when she was doing good, it is commendable before God if she bears that mistreatment patiently, 1 Peter 2:18-19. The real value of the wife submitting to her husband, in this case, would be where a Christian wife is married to an unbeliever.
Peter says through their conduct she may actually convert the unbelieving husband. And notice something important here, he says even though they may not have obeyed the Gospel previously, the wives’ conduct may just do it.
And notice something else, when says, ‘they may be won over without a message’, he’s saying wives don’t need to nag them all the time, their conduct may just be the thing which brings them to Christ.
I don’t believe it’s biblical to tell anyone to become a Christian, I think we have a responsibility to share the Gospel with them but not force them to become Christians.
Well, if none of us was forced to become a Christian, why should we force or nag anyone else to become a Christian? It’s a fine line between encouraging someone to make a decision and constantly nagging them to make that decision.
If a Christian woman is married to an unbeliever and wants to encourage them to become a Christian, then stop the nagging and win them over by your conduct. And the way they do that according to Peter is by living pure in all areas of your life and living in reverence towards your husband.
“Do not let your ornaments be those of the body such as dressing of the hair or putting on of jewels of gold or fair clothing; But let them be those of the unseen man of the heart, the ever-shining ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great price in the eyes of God.” 1 Peter 3:3-4
Peter says let the wives’ inner beauty shine. Now, these verses are interesting because Peter is using what we call a Hebraism. A Hebraism is a form of speech that is used often in the Scriptures, we would call it contrasting. In other words, we would say ‘not this but this’ in order to make an emphasis, John 6:27.
Peter is using a similar contrast here concerning wives. In other words, he’s saying, don’t let your emphasis on beauty pertain to outward adornment. He is not saying that it is always wrong to arrange your hair, wear gold, or put on nice clothes, but what he is saying is that your emphasis should always be elsewhere.
Your emphasis should always be on the beauty of your heart. Christian women should be living in such a way that their inner beauty just shines out. The Christian woman should be living in such a way that people notice who you are rather than what you wear.
Peter says it’s a gentle and quiet spirit that represents true inner beauty and all women need to know that living like this is very precious in God’s eyes, Isaiah 66:1-2. And so Christian women must let their inner beauty be their most noticeable feature about you, Proverbs 11:22.
“And these were the ornaments of the holy women of the past, whose hope was in God, being ruled by their husbands: As Sarah was ruled by Abraham, naming him lord; whose children you are if you do well, and are not put in fear by any danger.” 1 Peter 3:5-6
And so Peter says, if women need a role model, think about Sarah. Remember that Sarah was so beautiful outwardly. In Genesis 12 we read that Pharaoh wanted her even though she was over 65 years old.
In Genesis 20 we read that the king of the Philistines wanted her even though she was over 90 years old and long past the age of childbearing. But yet her true beauty was demonstrated by her submissive spirit because she called Abraham her lord, Genesis 18:12.
Peter’s point is that Christian women can become the daughters of Sarah, provided they do good in being submissive to their husbands. Christian women can become the daughters of Sarah, provided they are not afraid of any terror, in other words, they need to be composed with a gentle and quiet spirit.
“Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honour to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered”. 1 Peter 3:7
Peter, now turns his attention to Christian husbands and what he says is very important. Peter says, ‘live with your wives in an understanding way,’ the King James Version says, ‘with knowledge’.
In other words, Peter is saying that husbands are expected to know and understand certain things. Husbands are expected to know and understand their responsibility in their marriage relationship.
Christ loved the church so much He died for her, Ephesians 5:25, and remember this is not the wishy-washy butterflies in the stomach kind of love, this is ‘agapao love’, the kind of love between a husband and a wife that loves unconditionally and encourages us to be totally devoted to them.
Husbands are expected to know and understand the nature of their wives as weaker vessels but please don’t misunderstand what Peter means here. He’s not saying that women are less intelligent than men, he’s not talking about women having less courage than men or even having less spiritual strength than men.
He is referring to women being weaker in terms of physical strength and husbands we should know and understand these things if we are to live with our wives properly. We should live with our wives with love and understanding.
The word ‘give’ means to ‘assign’ and the word ‘honour’ involves the idea that our wives are precious and of high value. Sadly, husbands don’t always see the real value in having a godly wife, Proverbs 31:10-31.
Peter says another good reason to consider our wives in such a way is to remember that they are truly ‘heirs together of the grace of life’. If our wives are Christians, they are our sister in Christ and they are worthy of respect just as much as any other brother or sister in Christ.
And Peter says if you don’t treat our wives like we should, ‘our prayers may be hindered’. The word ‘hindered’ is an interesting word, it literally means ‘cut off’. And what Peter is telling us is that if we treat our wives in any way which isn’t Christ-like then our access to God by prayer may be cut off.
In other words, God won’t listen to our prayers anymore, which is exactly what happened to the Old Testament priests who treated their wives badly, Malachi 2:13-14.
Suffering For Doing Good
“Finally, be all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brothers, tender-hearted, courteous, not rendering evil for evil, or insult for insult; but instead blessing; knowing that to this were you called, that you may inherit a blessing”. 1 Peter 3:8-9
Peter says first and foremost, for the church to function properly he wants us all to be ‘like-minded’. Please don’t misunderstand what he’s saying here, he’s not saying that everyone should think alike. Whenever you get a bunch of people together you will never get everyone to think alike.
But what he is saying is that we all need to be united in the same purpose, we all need to be united in the same goals, John 17:20-21. One of the things which the early church possessed was this ‘like-mindedness’, Acts 4:32.
And the only way to get that oneness of mind as some translations have it is to totally ‘submit to the will of God’. In other words, we need to make God’s will, our will, we need to make God’s purpose, our purpose, John 5:30.
The second thing we need to have if we want the church to function properly is ‘compassion for one another’. This is exactly what Jesus did whilst He was here on earth, Matthew 9:35-36. Jesus showed compassion whilst He was here on earth but that compassion continues today even whilst He is in heaven, Hebrews 4:15.
Peter continues and reminds us if we want the church to function properly then thirdly we need to ‘love as brothers’. Literally speaking, this means to be ‘brother lovers’.
This is so essential for each of us, especially if we want ‘grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’, 2 Peter 3:18. Brotherly love is so essential if we want to ‘convince the world that we truly are disciples of Jesus Christ’, John 13:35.
The truth of the matter is if we don’t love each other like this then John tells us that we don’t even love God, 1 John 4:20. John also says we don’t even know God back, 1 John 4:7-8.
This brings me to the fourth requirement we need if the church is to function properly. Peter says be ‘tender-hearted’, it’s the kind of heart that is full of compassion and capable of loving your brethren. It’s the total opposite of being cold-hearted, where we are insensitive to the needs and feelings of others.
Peter says we need to be ‘tender-hearted’ towards each other and then he gives us another requirement if we want the church to function properly. He says he wants us to be ‘courteous’, in other words, he wants us to be humble in spirit, and he wants us to be kind to each other.
People who possess an arrogant or proud spirit do not bother to be courteous because God can only fill those who are not filled with themselves, Revelation 3:15-17.
Christians are supposed to imitate their Lord and Saviour, and not think so highly of themselves that they cannot be kind and courteous to others, Philippians 2:3-5. Jesus, Himself said that He came ‘not to be served to but to serve’, Mark 10:45, and He is the example we should follow.
Another requirement we need for the church to function properly is to have the attitude that ‘returns a blessing for evil’. Remember Peter is talking about our relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ here.
When a brother or sister in Christ does us evil, we are to respond with a blessing and he gives us two reasons as to why this is important.
He says number one, we are called to follow the example of Jesus Christ Himself. He says number two when we return a blessing for evil then we too may be blessed in turn from God Himself.
“For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3:10-12
Peter has just given us six things that we need to have toward one another if the church is going to function properly. They are part of what constitutes the Christ-like character that we are to develop as His disciples.
And to help us fulfil those duties, in order to help us to keep motivated, Peter quotes from Psalm 34. He says in order to keep us focused on having the proper relationship with each other, he says that we might ‘love life and see good days’.
I don’t know of a single human being who doesn’t want to enjoy life to the full every day but the problem is too often, many people make their own lives miserable by their own self-seeking, self-destructive attitudes.
People, who are constantly complaining, contentious, retaliating to evil with evil, people who only make a situation a lot worse but Peter says, don’t get involved in slander, don’t get involved in backbiting, don’t get involved in complaining, lying, murmuring, and grumbling, Proverbs 6:16-19.
Christians don’t act that way, Christians should know and understand that fighting back and getting involved in these things doesn’t solve anything, all it does is make the situation worse.
Christians should know what to do and Peter says we should not be pursuing any of those evil things but what we should be pursuing is to do good and seek peace.
How do we pursue doing good and seeking peace? Peter says, make the best out of difficult situations, make good situations even better. Because when we do these things then we have the assurance that the Lord Himself will be open to us.
“For who is going to harm you if you are devoted to what is good? But in fact, if you happen to suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. But do not be terrified of them or be shaken. But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. Because Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh but by being made alive in the spirit”. 1 Peter 3:13-18
We need to realise that there are times when Satan will make every effort to bring harm to those who try to follow the will of God, 1 Peter 5:8-9 / Revelation 12:17. So we need to be aware that the devil is real and he will attack anyone who’s trying to do the will of God.
Peter shares with us five early warning systems to help us prepare for persecution whilst we’re still living here on earth as strangers in a strange land.
And the first one is this, as Christians, we need to remember that ‘we are blessed if we suffer for Christ’. 1 Peter 3:17 / 1 Peter 4:14. We’re blessed because we have the promise that God is with us as we go through that suffering.
Jesus says we’re blessed because our reward will be great, He says we’re blessed because we’re in the company of God’s Old Testament prophets, Matthew 5:10-12.
The alternative is the opposite and we need to understand that we are far better off suffering for Christ than suffering for evil, 1 Peter 3:17. Suffering for evil is what will happen if we are not willing to stand up for Christ but remember that suffering for Christ is only temporary, but the suffering for evil is eternal.
The second way to help prepare ourselves for persecution whilst we’re still living here on earth as strangers in a strange land according to Peter is to ‘set apart the Lord in your hearts’.
Peter is saying that we are daily bombarded with attacks on our faith but as Christians, the Lord Jesus should be firmly seated on the throne of our hearts.
The Lord Jesus should be the Lord and ruler of our very lives. The Lord Jesus should be ruling over our desires to the point where His will becomes more important than our will.
And when he talks about facing persecution without fear or without being troubled, he’s telling us that if Jesus isn’t set apart in our hearts, then we will be afraid of what man might do, we will be troubled by the threats we receive but if Jesus truly is Lord of our lives then we won’t be afraid of anyone.
Many times as believers, we wrestle with the problems we face, not realizing that God has been with us all the time, but for this to be our hope, we must realize God is in control, Hebrews 13:5-6.
The third way to help prepare ourselves for persecution whilst we’re still living here on earth as strangers in a strange land according to Peter is to ‘always be ready to give a defence for the reason for your hope’.
This is one of those passages which is taken out of context so many times, Peter is not saying that we need to be ready to give an answer for every religious question that someone might ask, he is not saying that.
I think it’s good that we’re able to explain why we do what we do in matters of religion, but that’s not the point Peter is making here. Peter is saying that we should always be ready to give a reason why we have the ‘hope’ we do.
In other words, when someone asks us why we’re a Christian, we share with them our strong desires and expectations which come from being a Christian.
Peter is saying that our desire and confidence for the future is so strong that it is seen in our lives by others, 1 Peter 1:6 / 1 Peter 1:8. But we should demonstrate this in our lives with the spirit of humility. We shouldn’t be arrogant about it, we should be humble about it but we should also demonstrate this in our lives with the spirit of fear.
The fourth way to help prepare ourselves for persecution whilst we’re still living here on earth as strangers in a strange land according to Peter is to ‘keep our conscience clean’.
Peter says together with our good conduct we will likely cause our enemies to be ashamed for mistreating us. A guilty conscience will not enable us to face the threat of death without fear and trembling because not only should we be able to stand before men without fear, but we also need to be able to stand before God without fear, 1 John 3:21.
The guilt is removed by prayer, God forgives when we ask but we need to remember that God removes that feeling of guilt through the fellowship of confession, 1 John 1:9 / James 5:16.
The fifth way to help prepare ourselves for persecution whilst we’re still living here on earth as strangers in a strange land, Peter says ‘remember the example of Christ’.
Peter says remember that Jesus suffered for our sakes, not only to bring us to God but also to help us understand that suffering for good can sometimes accomplish much good in the long run.
We often feel that we’re suffering alone but we’re not alone, when we suffer, He suffers, 1 Peter 2:21 / 1 Peter 4:1. Just knowing that Jesus suffered in so many ways, just knowing that He suffers with us should help and comfort us greatly.
Paul knew that some things were difficult to understand, Paul knew that people would twist the Scriptures because of their ignorance and I’m sure the apostle Peter himself would agree, 2 Peter 3:15-16.
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.” 1 Peter 3:18-20
These few verses are considered by some to be some of the most difficult passages in the Bible to understand and there have been many books and articles written about what Peter means.
Some teach that Jesus proclaimed the message of salvation to the souls of sinners imprisoned there since the flood, but this is totally contradictory to Peter’s own words, 2 Peter 2:4-5 / 2 Peter 2:9.
Notice that the ‘spirits’ that Peter is talking about were ‘disobedient in the days of Noah’. To say that the Spirit of Christ went to release the souls of the righteous who repented before the flood is a misunderstanding because at the time of the flood there were no righteous people around only Noah and his family, Genesis 6:5-13 / Genesis 7:1.
Christ in His Spirit didn’t go anywhere to save those who were righteous before the flood because there were none, just Noah and His family.
Remember our Bibles are split into books, chapters and verses and sometimes that is helpful and other times it’s not so helpful so, to keep these verses in their context we must go back to 1 Peter 2:18-24.
Peter reminded us that if suffering should come our way then the Christians should make sure they are suffering for the right reasons. In other words, if you’re going to suffer, suffer for doing good not for doing evil.
And then when we go to 1 Peter 3:13-22 where he returns to the theme of suffering again and he informs us about three different suffering situations.
In 1 Peter 3:13-14 he reminds us about the possible suffering of Christians, in 1 Peter 3:18 he reminds us of the suffering of Christ, and finally in 1 Peter 3:20 he reminds us of the suffering of the disobedient souls before the flood.
What Peter is telling us is that those who rebelled against God in the days of Noah, suffered at the hand of God for doing evil but the end result wasn’t a blessing but imprisonment after they had died.
Peter is telling us that Jesus suffered whilst He was alive but He did it for the good and the reason He did it for the good was because He did it for God. And what was the end result? Jesus was resurrected and enthroned at the right hand of God.
“In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” 1 Peter 3:20-22
We need to choose what it will be, 1 Peter 3:14 gives us the choice to suffer for doing good and the end result will be salvation beyond the grave, that’s why Peter talks about being raised with Christ. That’s why Peter talks about baptism being a commitment to obedience.
But those who were baptized during Noah’s time with the flood figuratively speaking were imprisoned beyond the grave because of their commitment to their disobedience.
What Peter is doing is comparing the two, he’s saying back in Noah’s day those who didn’t listen to God, their flood baptism resulted in death and imprisonment. But the Christian baptism results in life, it results in renewed life to God through the resurrection and glorification of Jesus Christ.
He’s saying if we’re going to suffer Christian, even to the point of death at least we didn’t die at the hand of God like those who were around at Noah’s time.
Peter says that the spirits are those to whom Noah preached when Noah and they were very much alive, but by the time Peter writes this letter, those very same spirits are long gone and they are now spirits who are in prison, 1 Peter 4:6.
They were dead whilst Peter wrote this letter but they were very much alive whilst the Gospel was being preached to them. But didn’t Jesus preach to these spirits when He was in the grave for three days? Peter is saying that the Spirit of Christ, in other words, the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets to the people when they were alive, 1 Peter 3:19.
And what he’s saying here is that the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit spoke through Noah to the people when they were alive, 1 Peter 1:11-12. And also remember that Noah was a preacher of righteousness, 2 Peter 2:5.
He’s not talking about what happened when Jesus was in the grave and we shouldn’t make a text mean something it doesn’t say. Jesus spoke through the prophets of old for centuries, but only a few listened to Him. He spoke through Noah for 120 years but no one except his family listened to Him.
After talking about how the Spirit of Christ preached through Noah to those who were disobedient, Peter makes a statement that is as plain as the nose on our face concerning salvation.
When Peter uses the word ‘baptism’, he is using it in a way which we call an antitype, which basically means ‘a thing formed after some pattern, that which corresponds to a type’.
You have two things that somehow relate or correspond to each other, one is a type, the other is the antitype. In other words, Peter says the waters of the flood are the ‘type’, and the waters of baptism are the ‘antitype’.
Barnes, in his commemoratory, says the following.
‘The meaning here is, that baptism corresponded to, or had a resemblance to, the water by which Noah was saved; or that there was a use of water in the one case which corresponded in some respects to the water that was used in the other; to wit, in effecting salvation.’
Baptism is an important part of our salvation, so please allow me to share a little history on the subject of baptism. For 1300 years after the church was established on the day of Pentecost baptism was uniformly practised by the immersion of a person underwater. In other words for 1300 years after the establishment of the church baptism was practised as we still practice it today.
Every single person who became a Christian in New Testament times were immersed in water. Notice what I said, every single person was immersed, not a single one of them was sprinkled or poured upon.
John Calvin says that ‘in the early days, baptism was administered by immersion but the church did grant unto herself the liberty to change the rite somewhat’.
He’s saying that the Roman Catholic Church changed the rite, changed the practice of baptism, from full immersion to sprinkling or pouring. And in the year 1311, the catholic council met in France and decided that sprinkling or pouring may be used as an alternative mode for baptism.
If baptism was important for Jesus to preach, if it’s important for the writers of the New Testament to practice it, then it should be important for us to preach and practice it too.
Because did you know that the Bible speaks about baptism 126 times? And in every instance in the Bible it means to dip or immerse or plunge and not once does it mean to sprinkle or to pour.
I don’t believe in infant baptism and I don’t even believe in adult baptism, but what I do believe in is believer’s baptism. The Gospel is designed for people who have the ability to believe or not to believe, Mark 15:15-16. It’s a believer’s baptism, someone who believes and is baptised will be saved, and someone who doesn’t believe will be condemned.
We’re not saved simply by believing, if we believe that we were saved before baptism, it doesn’t matter when we were baptised then our belief is wrong.
If our sins were already forgiven before our baptism then what was the purpose of us being baptised? Because Peter says we’re baptised in order to be forgiven and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:38.
Scriptural baptism is the immersion of a believer in water to receive the forgiveness of their sins, acceptance by Christ and addition to the body of Christ, the church.
I find it amazing these days that many people don’t preach about the importance of baptism in some religious circles but did you know some of their best teachers used to?
The Church of England for example, in their prayer book, says, that ‘baptism is the ordinance whereby a person becomes a child of God, a member of Christ and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven’.
And if that doesn’t tell us that baptism is important I don’t know what does. A child of God, a member of Christ and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven is what you become by means of baptism.
What about John Wesley? We know what the Methodists today practice and preach but John Wesley in his notes on the New Testament says this, ‘all who believed in New Testament Times were baptised’. Wow that’s certainly not true today, is it?
Campbell Morgan who was a Congregationalist says ‘in the rite of baptism there are two movements, an immersion and an emergence. Immersion is the symbol of death and burial and emergence is the symbol of the resurrection and life of that work of the Holy Spirit there is no symbol so perfect as that of water baptism’.
Harry A. Ironside who was an active member of the Plymouth Brethren says, “To the lover of the Lord Jesus Christ there can be nothing legal about baptism. It is simply the glad expression of a grateful heart recognizing its identity with Christ in death, burial, and resurrection. Many of us look back to the moment when we were thus baptized as one of the most precious experiences we have ever known.”
Martin Luther says in answer to the question, ‘What gifts or benefits does Baptism bestow?’ Luther replied, ‘It affects forgiveness of sins.’ He also wrote concerning the sinner, ‘Through baptism, he is bathed in the blood of Christ and is cleansed from sins.’ And finally, he said, ‘To put it most simply, the power, effect, benefit, fruit, and purpose of baptism is to save.’
And for those who argue by saying that baptism is working for our salvation, he says, ‘Yes, it is true that our works are of no use for salvation. Baptism, however, is not our work but God’s.’
The point is that sprinkling and pouring to replace full immersion is a relatively new thing and because its practice has only been around for 300 years or so should warn us that this is a manmade ordinance.
Peter makes it very clear that ‘baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you’, 1 Peter 3:21. In what way does baptism save us? It’s all to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
There is nothing special about the water we get plunged under, salvation in baptism is not found in the water. Salvation in baptism is only possible because of the blood of Christ and the resurrection of Christ.
Because if He had not shed His blood on the cross, if He had not been raised back to life, we would still be in our sins, 1 Corinthians 15:17.
But thanks be to God Jesus did rise from the dead and because Jesus was raised from the dead, we who are united together in the likeness of His death in our baptism can share in the power of His resurrection as we also rise to walk in newness of life.
Paul tells that baptism, identifies us with Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection into a new life, Romans 6:3-5. This identification is not only with Christ but also in the name of the Father and Holy Spirit. And this is significant because it shows that our lives are to be totally encompassed by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Colossians 2:12-13.
In other words, it is the same power of God that raised Jesus from the dead which saves us in baptism so we can be made alive. Paul says that by God’s saving grace and resurrecting power, baptism can indeed save us, Ephesians 1:19-20 / Ephesians 2:4-6.
Not because of any cleansing power in the water, but because of what God is doing at that moment. What Peter is telling us is that our baptism is an appeal to God for a clear conscience. And if anyone should know the significance of baptism, it’s Peter, after all, he was the one who preached the very first Gospel message, Acts 2:38.
Why would he tell them to repent and be baptised if repentance and baptism weren’t important for salvation? Why would Ananias say to the apostle Paul “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptised and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’” as Paul records it in Acts 22:16? Why would he tell him to hurry up and be baptised if baptism wasn’t important for his salvation?
Baptism was and still is for the remission of sins, to have our sins washed away by the blood of Christ and to have a good conscience before God is to have our conscience cleared by the blood of Christ, Hebrews 9:14.
A person is baptized so their sins can be washed away and they can rise to a new life through the same power of God that raised Jesus from the dead.
Peter says that Jesus the Christ has now gone into heaven and that all things have been made subject to Him. Jesus says when you step out in faith in the waters of baptism that’s your way of saying, ‘I promise to love you and stay with you forever’, Matthew 28:18-20.
And Jesus says, when you’re baptised into the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, ‘I promise to stay with you forever too, and to help you along my Holy Spirit will live in you to help you keep to your promise’.
In other words, baptism isn’t only us acting out the Gospel, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus but it’s also a spiritual marriage ceremony between us and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Peter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wouldn’t tell us that baptism saves if it really didn’t.
